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Investigating the Titanic with GIS 

Students use the geographic perspective, GIS methods and tools, mathematics, and historical accounts and tables to learn about latitude and longitude, map projections, ocean currents, databases, maps, and images, through the analysis of the route, warnings, sinking, rescue, aftermath, and discovery of the ocean liner RMS Titanic.

Students consider the human and physical aspects of the 1912 maiden voyage in the North Atlantic Ocean at a variety of scales, from global, to regional, to local.  They use history, language arts, and mathematics in a geographic context.  Students analyze how the sinking of the Titanic affected future shipping routes, and, ultimately, its 1985 discovery.  Students apply geography to interpret the past.

For more tools, consult the other resources on the USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center's Education Program pages.

For more information about this lesson, contact Joseph Kerski at (303) 202-4315 or jjkerski@usgs.gov.